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Saturday, February 25, 2012

My father lived in several states when he was young, from California to Montana, from Mississippi to Washington..., but where he spent most of his life is in Annapolis, the capital of Maryland, a small state right by Washington DC. Annapolis is famous because of the movie and the Naval Academy of the US, but it's also a charming city, with plenty of different restaurants, art galleries, cute shops and the scent of the sea coming from Chesapeake Bay.

I've only been there once, three years ago, spending four days with my parents, visiting the house where my father used to live, the school where he studied, meeting some old friends from his years in high school and long-lost so-called family; discovering the tradicional dish of the area, the Crab Cake (which I actually never tried since I'm not a big fan of seafood), going mad in front of the longest menu I've ever seen on a dinner and enjoying the best chocolate milkshake I've ever tried.

Annapolis may not be on the top 10 list of the 'Cities in the US you should visit before you die', but I'm sure no one will be disappointed after visiting this wonderful city. Annapolis is waiting for you!

Alex Haley Memorial - Kunta Kinte's author

Sewer

Traditional houses

Luxury houses

Annapolis State House

State house + cute little houses

Bay

Bay

Luxury houses facing the bay

Best chocolate milk shake ever!!- Annapolis ice cream company (you can decorate your own spoon adn place it in the wall) -

Sunday, February 19, 2012

I discovered this tv show a few months ago and totally fell in love with it. The plot is not exactly new: three guys sharing a loft in Los Ángeles need a new roommate and ended up living with the 'new girl' of the title, wonderfuly performed by Zooey Deschanel.

Jessica (Jess) Day is a daydreamer, en elementary school teacher who always thinks good of others and does not see evil in anyone, which leads to hilarious situations, mainly because of her aversion to confrontation. She moved with the three guys after a essy break-up with her boyfriend and, despite all the differences between them, become good friends.

Nick, Schmidt and Winston are the roommates, a Law School dropout working as a bartender, a womanizer and en ex-basketball plater who played profesional in Latvia and now finds so hard to keep a stable job. All of them, with their pros and cons, discover in Jess someone so different to them who can make them see their lives in a different way.

Don't wait too long until start watching 'New Girl', you're gonna fall in love with Jess, Nick, Schmidt and Winston, but on top of that, you're gonna laugh during every episode.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

A few years ago we lived in the information
age; internet arrived to (almost) every house wich made us be aware of
everything that was happening in the world in real time.

Now, however, we live in the information overload era; with the presence of smartphones in our lifes we are connected 24/7,
hanging on the telephone, receiving whats apps from our friends everytime
something insignificant happens in their lives (‘I’ve seen so and so, she had a
haircut’), whenever they get bored (‘I’m in the bus, tell me anything’), everytime
they see something that reminds them to us; we find out about famous people’s
deaths before the body is cold because we’re checking Facebook while waiting in
line at the pub’s restrooms; we are in bed at night almost falling asleep with the cell
phone in our hands like teenagers, waiting for someone to answer your whats app…

We know every step our acquaintances on
Facebook take, but even they know we’re not interested in learning if they had had
blueberry muffins for breakfast with mom at Café Pepita, had spaghetti with
pesto with the boyfriend at Ristorante Roma o if they are going to the movies
with their best friend. All of this with the result of tagging mom, boyfriend
and best friend; them and even the neighbor, to thank him because on that busy day
he took time to watch your cat…

‘Check this out, I bought a new t-shirt’
someone posts attaching a photo of the t-shirt. Man, don’t share the photo, if
so share the t-shirt! I’m not interested in your shopping, I don’t wanna know
every second what song are you listening to and how it makes you feel because
it’s been like 10 years since you haven’t listened to that group, I’m not interested
in knowing where you are at all times or with who. God forbid your friends had
lied to someone about where they are, because he/she will have an argument
today and you’ll have it tomorrow.

The worst thing of this whole dissertation is
that I’ve thought of it this morning when I was in the shower, when I’ve
realized that, while waiting for my sister to leave the bathroom and still in
bed, I was already checking Facebook from my Blackberry. Because, despite all
the information overload that surrounds us every day, I love checking Facebook from
my cell phone several times a day (I don’t have Twitter, but I’ll do it too…),
I love when my friends remember me and send me whats apps, even telling stupid
things, I like having a gps on my cell that helps not to get lost, I like
having the change to google something every time, everywhere, and I love being
online 24/7.

Because when you discover the information overload there’s no turning back, and when you start using a smartphone, you no longer
think again about using any other kind of cell phone (‘sms?, what’s that?’).

I wanna dedicate this post to all the people
that read me from home. And from a cell phone ;)

Monday, February 13, 2012

Five years studying Art History in college led me to two conclusions: it's too hard to find a job 'art related' when you only have a degree (not a master or a PhD) and Art is in the eyes of whoever looks at it, is a personal choice, an unique opinion, and nobody should be forced to like what the rest of the world likes.

What if you go to ARCO and you don't like it?, what if you feel that Contemporary Architecture is better than Baroque Architecture?, what if you are in love with the Pre-Raphaelites and don't like Impressionism? Everybody should be free to enjoy art their own way! So don't go to a museum only to see paintings by Velázquez, Van Gogh, Botticelli or Delacroix... You'll discover amazing pieces drifting without direction.

Here you have some of the works I love, not all known, but all wonderful. I'll be posting more 'things I like' in the next few days...

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Everyone who knows me can tell you that I'm totally in love woth New York, but not everyone would have the answer to the question 'What's my favorite city in Europe?' I really like Paris, Venice, London, Prague..., but none can be compared to Berlin.

I've only been there once, almost 5 years ago, and I'm really looking forward to returning to Berlin, and visit again its monuments, its parks, its cathedrals, its museums... This huge city has a lot to offer to its visitors and I'm sure no one would be disappointed after visiting the capital of Germany, because, and comparing it to NYC, Berlin is a city where you would always have something to do, day and night, East and West...

Enjoy this pictures in Berlin while I'll try to figure out when I would be able to go back.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

No, this restaurant doesn't exist, it's my final project for my studies of Interior Desing and it consists in the design of a Spanish restaurant in New York.

In case you don't know about Jaleo, here's a short summary of its story. The Spanish chef José Andrés moved to the States in the nineties and, since then, has opened several restaurants in Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia and Las Vegas, named Jaleo. Besides, his company, ThinkFoodGroup, has other restaurants in Washington DC and Las Vegas, devoted to mexican and creek cuisine, tapas, tasting menu and signature cuisine.

Every restaurant tha he opens became succesful from the beginning and ThinkFoodGroup it's not only dedicated to restaurants, but also to promote Jose Andrés's creative endeavors, such as cookbooks or tv programms. In 2011, Jose Andrés was name Outstanging Chef of the Year at the James Beard Foundation Awards (you can call it 'The Oscar for cooks').

Whit this project I've tried to mix the Spanish food with the American culture, blending in the same space an area of fast food (not meaning with that 'bad food') and a relaxing space to enjoy the benefits of Mediterranean food in a modern new-york-style place, located in the ground floor of a new building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Friday, February 3, 2012

I love costume jewelry. That doesn't mean that I don't like actual jewelry, I do; it only means that I don't have money to buy expensive pieces and tend to go to bargains. So, among the years, I ended up having lots of earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces, that I stucked in some drawers, almost without knowing what I actually had...

Not anymore!! A few months ago I decided to made my own hanger for necklaces. I only needed a cork board, white paint and some thumbtacks. I really like the result. Do you?

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Thanks to Eurobecas Caja Madrid, last summer I had the chance to stay two months in Ireland. If you've been to Ireland you'll realize it's not exactly a good idea. Summer is supossed to be the season when you can go to the beach, enjoy sunbathing, wear strapless t-shirts and flip flops, drink cocktails in terraces... Not in Ireland. Summer in Ireland means rain, wind, sun (sometimes), umbrellas, coats, scarves... and lots of fun.

As the saying goes 'When in Rome...', I took advantage of the country and enjoyed it as much as I could. Which means 'It's raining again?, let's go to a pub an drink some beers!'.

I want to dedicate this post to the 33 guys that came with me to Dublin, some of them had become good friends, and to remember the good old times we had in Ireland.